Heidi Thomas Talks Revamping GIGI for Broadway's Modern Audience

Vanessa Hudgens will play the title role in the new Broadway production of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's beloved Oscar and Tony Award-winning film and stage musical, Gigi.

A new interview in Entertainment Weekly goes in-depth on how British screenwriter Heidi Thomas has revamped the revival of the musical she says is just as relevant today as it was back in '58 (when the film debuted) and '73 (its first incarnation on Broadway).

"I think Gigi, like any young woman today, is growing up, is coming of age in a society that has huge expectations of her, and they are very particular expectations," Thomas told EW. "I swear, when I walk ten blocks to my script meeting, I will constantly be passing young women who are grappling with these issues. I think that is the thing that makes it feel so immediate and so fresh."

This new adaptation of Gigi will feature the songs from the movie, including "The Parisians" and "Say a Prayer for Me Tonight," which were dropped from the previous stage version, as well as four songs written and added to the score by Lerner and Loewe in 1973, "Paris is Paris Again," "I Never Want to Go Home Again," "The Contract," and "In This Wide, Wide World."

Commenting on some of these changes, Thomas said: "The movie is very much a movie. For example, there's virtually no role for an ensemble in terms of dance or singing, and that was something that obviously had to be addressed...In 1973 and [in a] 1985 [West End production], some songs were taken out. Some were dropped. It seemed a little thin on the musical number front and I had the huge privilege of being able to choose songs from the movie. For example, "Say a Prayer for Me Tonight" never made it through to a stage version. That, to me, was an iconic moment, where she sings and then comes out in her white dress."

She continued: "Gigi has more of a voice from early on in the show...In the novel, she's 15. I was scandalized! I thought well, we aren't going there. We make it very clear that she is 18, because I want a modern audience to feel comfortable with this."

Thomas concluded: "I always think that when you take on an adaptation of anything, especially if it's something that's a classic in its own right, you are charged with translating it to the new medium as faithfully and honorably as possible. Sometimes the least faithful and honorable thing you can do is not change anything. Because if something hasn't succeeded on stage as well as it succeeded on screen, you have to look at that and try and assess why."

GIGI will be directed by Eric Schaeffer (Follies, Million Dollar Quartet), in a re-envisioned adaptation by British playwright and BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated screenwriter Heidi Thomas ("Call the Midwife," "Cranford," "Upstairs, Downstairs"). Joshua Bergasse (On the Town, "Smash") will choreograph the production.

GIGI will play a pre-Broadway engagement in the Eisenhower Theater at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (David M. Rubenstein, chairman, Deborah F. Rutter, president) in Washington, D.C. from January 16-February 12, 2015. Opening night is January 29, 2015. Tickets will go on sale on Monday, September 22 at 10:00 AM to Kennedy Center Members and on Wednesday, October 1 at 10:00 AM to the general public. Visit www.kennedy-center.org for further details. Gigi will open on Broadway in 2015 following the Kennedy Center engagement.

Based on the 1944 novel by Colette, Gigi was first adapted for the Broadway stage in 1951 by Anita Loos, with an unknown Audrey Hepburn in the title role; then, following their success with My Fair Lady, the team of Alan Jay Lerner (screenplay and lyrics) and Frederick Loewe (music) adapted the material for the 1958 movie musical, winner of nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The film, directed by Vincente Minnelli, is widely considered the last great MGM movie musical, and is beloved for its wit, charm and sumptuous costume and production design. Gigi includes such numbers as "Thank Heaven for Little Girls," "I Remember It Well" "The Night They Invented Champagne" and the Oscar-winning title song, "Gigi". Gigi also won the Tony Award for Best Score in 1974.